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Socorro High wins state baseball crown

'People will remember these kids forever'

Socorro High players celebrate Saturday after the final out of their Texas Class 5A state baseball championship against Lufkin in Round Rock. With their 12-7 win, the Bulldogs became the first El Paso team since Bowie High School in 1949 to win the state title.

EL PASO -- When that little white baseball smacked into the glove for the final out of a championship season, Socorro began its celebration. Every step they ran, every time their cleats dug into the turf, they were stepping in footprints and they were leaving footprints -- footprints for now, for next year and footprints forever.

Socorro outslugged Lufkin 12-7 on a hot Saturday afternoon in Round Rock, winning the Texas Class 5A state baseball championship. It is only the second state baseball championship for the city of El Paso and the first in exactly 60 years -- the first since Bowie High defeated Austin (Texas) High in June 1949.

"This is really huge," said Jim Paul, former El Paso Diablos owner and the man who spearheaded the building of Cohen Stadium. "In today's world, there are so many great high-school programs. What they did was difficult. Texas is second in the nation -- only to California -- in sending players to the major leagues. The competition is great. The competition is at the highest level. People around here will remember these kids forever. We all still remember the 1949 Bowie team."

Surviving members of that 1949 Bowie team have been unanimous in their support of Socorro, and they want other El Pasoans to share their memories.

Former Bear Jose Corona, 77, watched the game on television.

"I'm glad I'm still alive to see it," Corona said. "I'm so happy. I really wanted to see Socorro win it. For me, for all of us from '49, this was special. I'm so full of memories and now it can fall on these kids -- all these wonderful memories."

Former Bear Carlos Macias, 78, also enjoyed the Socorro championship.

"I saw all of it, every bit of it and it was good," Macias said. "We were all rooting for them to win. When they were down 2-0, I said, 'Don't worry, these kids can really hit that ball.' And they did. We all have our memories, and now they will have theirs."

Laughing, Macias said, "Ours will be different because the times were different -- sleeping on cots underneath the stadium bleachers instead of in a hotel, seeing those signs in the windows that said 'no dogs or Mexicans allowed', and we went in the back of restaurants and ate in a room at the side of the kitchen. But we were a team and we did it as a team, and we have so many great memories now. And now these Socorro kids will have their own memories."

Sixty years must seem like forever to many. It is six decades, a lifetime, and yet it is yesterday to the state champions from Bowie.

It certainly has been a long wait for El Pasoans. Riverside High made it to the Final Four in 2000, Coronado in 1992, Burges in 1983 and Austin High in 1965. But no one but the Bowie Bears could take those final steps. Until now.

An El Paso football team has never won a state championship. Del Valle has won a pair of boys state soccer championships, one in 2005, another in 2008. But El Paso has not won a major football, basketball or baseball team championship since Eastwood High won the 1976 state basketball championship. Before that, El Paso High won the 1947 state basketball championship.

But Friday and Saturday, in the sweltering heat and humidity of the Austin suburb of Round Rock, the Socorro Bulldogs put down their own footprints in El Paso sports history.

Paul, who owned El Paso's Texas League franchise, said, "We won four Texas League championships over the years. But we only beat eight teams, not the entire state. And the best thing of all is that these are kids born and raised right here in El Paso who did it. This is historic."

Socorro Principal Miguel Serrano was in Round Rock and was naturally excited and naturally eager to place his team at the top of El Paso's sports history.

"This is the best team, in my opinion," Serrano said. "Obviously, I didn't see the '49 (Bowie) team, but we might be the best team ever, the best team in the state. I've been watching them play. We were in a tough region, Region 1, and everybody's talked about how tough our region was and obviously we were tested. We came here and won both games by a good margin."

It is an exciting time for those Socorro Bulldogs, basking in the afterglow of a title. And, of course, a champion will always remain a champion -- whether it is 1949 or 2009.Ê

Dr. Dwayne Aboud, who has been active with El Paso youth baseball, said, "These Socorro kids are kids who will never quit, tough, hard-nosed ball players. Several played for me on traveling teams, and I can tell you they will never give up. We play baseball here in El Paso better than we do anything else. Maybe that will start to come out more now. Absolutely, though, this is historic. These kids will always remember this and they will always be remembered."

The Bowie Bears are still remembered today, 60 years since their championship. And they will always be remembered. They put down their own special footprints that day in Austin.

The Socorro Bulldogs will be remembered 60 years from now -- and forever. On a special Saturday in Round Rock, they put down their own special footprints in El Paso sports history.